Delicious All Natural Elderberry Syrup Recipe

Elderberry Syrup, Antioxidants, and Natural Recipes

Have you been hearing your friends talk about Elderberry Syrup? Elderberry Syrup has been all the rage lately and there’s many reasons why! Many of my like-minded, natural living friends have been sharing their love for Elderberry Syrup on social media for a few years now. When winter rolled around, I knew it was time to make my own batch. I didn't want to miss out on the yummy, wellness supporting, syrup for another year.

Before I got started whipping up my first homemade batch of Elderberry Syrup, I did some research to find out the scoop on Elderberries. It turns out there are some good reasons why I will continue to make homemade Elderberry Syrup for years to come. I’m really looking forward to having it in my fridge available to add to my daily wellness regimen, specially through the back to school season and winter months.

Here’s the deal: I found that Elderberries are known to be full of our antioxidants, so of course we love them! What are antioxidants? Based on what I know, antioxidants are known to do a lot of good things for our body, such as support our immune system, they are essential to our body working properly and maintaining homeostasis. Antioxidants are often known to repair the body, cells, and DNA from damage caused by free radicals. Free radicals are unpaired oxygen intermediates, so they are molecules that may cause damage in our body because they are stealing electrons through oxidation.  Free radicals are naturally produced in our body during several metabolic processes but also can be caused by exposure to through external sources, such as time in the sun, environmental pollutants, and dietary choices. Free radicals may cause damage to body tissues, cells, genes, and attack other biomolecules that alter our body functions. When it comes to neutralizing these molecules, antioxidants play an important role. Our healthy body, balances antioxidants and free radicals, because both are essential in staying above the wellness line. Unfortunately, some may be getting more free radicals into their lifestyle without even knowing.

Although our body produces free radicals, it’s more important to know we are also exposed to free radicals through external lifestyle factors too. Traditional household cleaning products, personal care products, pollutions, pesticides, and an unhealthy diet full artificial flavorings, fried and modified ingredients impact the free radicals in our body.

There was a moment back in 2016 that changed my life, and learning about the control that I had over external exposure to toxins was something powerful that pushed me along on this wellness journey. The knowledge about chemicals hiding in our home for 25 years drove my passion for pursuing wellness in a different light and encouraged me to  change my lifestyle for longevity in mind. At that moment, it also became my mission to help friends and family learn about natural living too.

It’s important to understand where free radicals come from, because through healthy living we can provide the body with normal conditions. I believe in living a life toward wellness incorporate other healthy lifestyle habits such as exercising, getting quality sleep, balancing stress, and supporting my body with Young Living Essential Oils. We also can allow our body to be equipped with antioxidants to serve as an efficient defense system to prevent damage done by free radicals.

All this being said about antioxidants, I like to add richly colored fruits, vegetables, and I am a big fan of drinking Ningxia Red everyday -- which is Young Living’s Oil-Infused Wolfberry Supplement that is full of antioxidants--to my diet as the first defense every day. Now understanding that Elderberries are a source of antioxidants, full of vitamin A, vitamin B, and vitamin C, I’m excited to share with you how to make elderberry syrup and give you a few ideas on how to incorporate them into your lifestyle too.

Homemade Elderberry Syrup can be used in a variety of ways. Personally, I like to simply add a little syrup to my morning Ningxia Shot. I’m excited to also use it as a healthy alternative topping for afternoon yogurt parfaits or morning oatmeal, for a natural delicious taste that will support my immune system too. I certainly have enjoyed using it this winter, and it’s something that is not hard to make at all.

I like to add Young Living Vitality Essential Oils to many things in the kitchen. When I decided to make Elderberry Syrup  of course I knew it would be a great opportunity to add my Young Living Vitality Essential Oils to support overall wellness. It is a personal choice to use vitality essential oils in this recipe. It’s important to understand essential oil safety before adding any essential oils to your cooking recipe. I would only use essential oils that are clearly labeled for dietary supplements, which is why I choose Young Living. Please feel free to choose which vitality essential oils you feel comfortable adding to the recipe or eliminating them from the recipe.

Here are the Young Living Vitality Essential Oils I added:
Cinnamon Vitality: powerful essential oil to support immune system

Clove Vitality- known for its antioxidants properties

Ginger Vitality & Nutmeg Vitality- to support digestion and helps combats occasional inflammation. Here is my thought, when 90% of immune system resides in the gut these two essential oils stimulate and regulate healthy digestion, only seems right to add tomy elderberry syrup.

Frankincense Vitality & Lemon Vitality- these two support healthy cells and the immune system.

Here are the other ingredients that I used for my Elderberry Syrup:
⅔ cup Dried Organic Elderberries
3 1/2 cups of water
1 cup of raw honey

Here are the instructions for making the Elderberry Syrup:
First, pour water into a saucepan and then add elderberries. Bring the elderberries to a boil, cover and reduce to simmer for about 45 minutes. Allow the liquid to reduce to about half and then at that point, remove them from the heat. Let them cool to lukewarm, so that you are able to handle the mixture. Begin to mash the elderberries carefully using a spoon or flat utensil, then pour through a strainer into a glass jar or bowl.
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When the Elderberry liquid is no longer hot, add the raw honey, and desired drops of essential oils. I choose about four Young Living Vitality Essential Oils and added 2 drops of each essential oil, for a total of about 8 drops.
You can also discard the elderberries that have been separated from the liquid. The elderberry syrup should be stored in an airtight container in fridge, I put mine in an 8 ounce mason jar, and it’s good for about two months.

I hope you enjoy this all natural homemade elderberry recipe!